Thursday, May 2, 2013

Mud and Mark

What
do you think of when you see this picture of a boat stuck up in a tree? Can you
imagine what modern day Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer would do?Jeff Nichols, a native ofArkansas,
has written and directed the film, "Mud". Matthew McConaughey plays
Mud; his love interest is played by Reece Witherspoon.

Nichols weaves a
multi-faceted coming of age tale of two 14 year olds that makes for a unique
and enjoyable two hours. It's the kind of screenplay that makes me research the
writer to find out more about him and his influences. His setting is the river
areas aroundDewitt,Arkansas. Nichols
was obviously influenced by Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer". If you are a
Mark Twain fan, you will enjoy his contemporary spin using Twain's backdrop of
theMississippi River.

Growing up on the bluffs over-looking
the muddyMississippi River, Mark Twain was required
reading. I'm a Twain fan and have re-read his books numerous times. As I
watched Mud's character evolve on screen I was reminded of Mark Twain’s,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
quote; "Human beings can be awful cruel to one another". Another Huck
quote that is a primary theme of the movie is; "Just because you’re taught
that something’s right and everyone believes it’s right, it don’t make it
right.”

Nichols put a lot of Tom Sawyer in his
screenplay, too. As Mark Twain wrote inThe
Adventures if Tom Sawyer, "He had discovered a great law of human
action, without knowing it--namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet
a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain."

This movie has inspired me to write a story
using the constantly changing fast-movingMississippi Riveras a backdrop. Thank you for sparking
my muse, Mark Twain and Jeff Nichols.

Why don't you join me in writing a story
using a river as your backdrop?

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